Jariya

Jariya, the duo comprised of singer/songwriter/producers, French born vocalist/keyboardist Eve Buigues and Los Angeles native vocalist/guitarist Andrea Bensmiller, began with a vision of merging the sounds of groove-oriented R&B with the gritty textures of rock. Along the way they intermingled flavors of their favorite styles of music from rap to jazz to electronica and found themselves in a unique approach to the rock genre.

The team met in Boston and started collaborating shortly thereafter. Eve’s musical past included a wealth of work in gospel choirs and R&B/jazz studio and live projects, while Andrea had spent the majority of her early life as an acoustic singer/songwriter/ guitarist. The blend of their backgrounds led them into mixing the varying styles in what could best be described as the soulful side of modern rock.

Often described as Lenny Kravitz meets Fiona Apple meets Mary J. Blige, Jariya integrates the heart, grit and energy of their rock edge with smooth gospel-inspired vocals spilled over pop/rock songs. The duo also introduce a new twist on rap with several songs that showcase Eve rapping in French and, their production work, though rooted in a live band rock sound, exhibits flavors of R&B, jazz, soul, and electronic music that the duo have immersed themselves in over the years.

The duo’s self-produced debut album, “ya ya” was released on their independent label, Barking Cow Records in April of 2002. “ya ya” is currently available online through www.cdbaby.com/jariya , www.mp3.com/jariya, and various websites accessible via click-through on their official site, www.jariya.net.

Jariya’s music is also being featured in two feature films slated for summer release in 2002. “Notorious C.H.O”, Margaret Cho’s newest concert film distributed by Wellspring Media, opens July 3rd in New York, San Franciso, and Los Angeles, and features opening and closing music by Jariya and Greg and Jeff Burns. Jariya’s music will also be heard in a film by Fox Searchlight entitled, “The Antwone Fisher Story”, directed by and starring Denzel Washington due out in August 2002.

Los Angeles locals can catch one of Jariya’s notoriously charismatic live shows at most of the venues that house live music throughout the city and their gig schedule can be accessed at www.jariya.net and wwwthelamusicscene.com. They can be reached via e-mail at jariya@jariya.net and through manager Kari Camelio at (323) 428-2786